4- The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 1, 1993 .j- i U1je 3idiguiu aitjj 420 Maynard Ann Arbor,-MI 48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan JOSH DuBow Editor in Chief ANDREw LEVY Editorial Page Editor T V G7A nk2 AO*1~ t l - (97 5 r A- 19 70 Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of the Daily editorial board. All other cartoons, articles and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily. '} h .4/'///' f9~ 1---- 1 ,JN ASE s £20. I- Yo v )LwAW5 COMF BA3CK -TH E-1 13tc. Insight Making light of the Holocaust By JULIE BECKER I saw the headline in the Detroit News and Free Press as I was waiting to leave for Yom Kippur services: "Kevorkian likens suicide ban to Nazi Germany's oppression". I went on to read the story, which quoted Kevorkian as calling the law "comparable to the 1935 German Nazi Nuremberg Laws" that mandated persecution of Jews and homosexuals. The story, printed on - coincidentally(?) - the most holy of all Jewish days, insulted me. And it made me very, very angry. First, let me say that I agree in theory with Dr. Kevorkian's crusade. I believe that suffering people must have the choice of dying with dignity, and I believe that a law prohibiting assistance to these people is narrow-minded and runs counter to the idea of freedom of choice. However, saying that I disagree with the law is a long way from calling it Nazi-like. Comparisons to Nazis or Nazi Germany have become all too popular recently. Think about it: how many times have you heard a strict, humorless professor called "a Nazi"? How many "radical" Becker is an LSA sophomore and is a Daily opinion staffer feminists have been jeered at as "Feminazis"? Many see these comparisons as funny, a particularly descriptive form of overstatement. Yet in reality, there is nothing funny about them. Put quite simply, the Holocaust is not a joke. To grow up Jewish, in this day and age, is to grow up with the Holocaust. Even if your own family escaped unscathed, even if you personally know no survivors, it is still a part of your life. You learn about it in Sunday School, you hear references to it in services. You light candles in memorial of "all those who have gone before," and think about the six million who died in Hitler's concentration camps. Most of all, you grow up with the idea that your very life is a victory, and that every Chanukah candle you light, every piece of matza you eat, is a triumph over those who would have destroyed us forever. To the Jews - probably to most people, but especially to the Jews - the Nazis are more than an enemy, more than historical oppressors. They are the most vile, abhorrent mass of people ever to walk this planet. Their evil is forever fresh - lest we forget, we need only read one of the diaries, or hear the voice of a survivor, to fix the images in our minds once again. The Nazis transcend our ordinary ideas about enemies. They are, for many, the very personification of evil. It is for this reason that I am insulted by flippant comparisons with the Nazis. They are too often made without thought, the people uttering them having no idea of their vast inappropriateness or of the hurt they can - and do - cause others. A strict and humorless professor is not at the same level as one who would imprison people for their beliefs; a "radical" feminist advocate is not a dangerous and dictatorial leader. Opponents of Kevorkian, wrong- headed though they may be, are not plotting to send him to the gas chambers. And Kevorkian himself, :r though his defiance of the assisted- suicide law takes courage, has never displayed the selfless, life- risking bravery that characterized so many of the resisters to the Nazis. Please - next time you make this comparison, stop to think first. Think about whether the comparison is truly accurate. If it is, then it is time for us all to be afraid, and time to fight back with all our will. If it is not accurate, then by making it you are not being clever or witty or amusing. You are merely making light of someone else's pain. Asian American diversity To the Daily: I read with great interest the article regarding the lack of diversity among Asian and Asian American students on campus (9/ 22/93). It was refreshing to hear some mention of Southeast Asian students (or lack of) considering the fact that most information dealing with Asian Americans usually only deals with Korean, Japanese, or Chinese Americans. However, I also noticed the lack of mention of diversity within these "mainstream" Asian American groups. Although I am of Chinese descent I have never hacked a computer, considered table tennis my favorite sport, or only been interested in engineering. There is nothing wrong with any of these interests, but not all Asian Americans have them. Granted, I'm not "pure" Chinese, but I still get offended when people just assume I have a "similar background as whites" or other generalizations about my ethnicity. As I'm sure any socially conscious person can attest to, society still judges people of color, and other underrepresented groups, by stereotypes about our respective groups rather than our individual characteristics. As a form of media seen by thousands of people daily, I sincerely hope that more of your articles strive to show the diversity within various groups instead of constantly lumping us together. student to find out what was going on in MSA. Unlike most visitors, I stayed and witnessed something that was terribly disturbing. What I saw was a frightening display of one coalition of parties doing everything they could to make sure their agenda was the only one taken care of by blatantly blocking attempts to create a fair and balanced meeting. The first resolution where this was evident was in the nomination of the BPC, a committee that helps to decide what student groups are given money for their projects. There were nine names proposed by the chair of BPC, Jacob Stern, who also happens to be a member of the Conservative Coalition. The first five names proposed, two of whom are members of the Conservative Coalition and three from the Michigan Party, were accepted. The other four were also right-wingers and in the desire to form a more balanced committee the vote on these members was postponed a week in order to give more interested people the chance to make themselves known. During a recess in the meeting I went to Mr. Stern to inform him that I, a person with more liberal beliefs, was interested in becoming a member. He told me that he already had his nominations and was going to keep his list rather than create a more balanced slate. He was simply not interested in nominating me. Jacob Stern and his band of conservative right-wingers have changed MSA from an organization Anl ;-ri -.,taA tr i ,t, ; r a nt a body. We as the student body have given MSA the privilege to make decisions on our behalf. Mr. Stern has abused the privilege we have given him and I personally feel ignored by his actions at the MSA meeting. DARONE RUSKAY RC Sophomore;v Richard Simmons is cool To the Daily: In "Point-Counterpoint" by Michael Rosenberg, I was quite offended by his comment about Richard Simmons. All of Richard's fans here are very proud of his work. It was a cheap shot on Rosenberg's part. Also, I would rather he mud-wrestle Dave Thomas than Frank Thomas. etions By CURTIS HERTEL As Co-Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives I'd like to take this opportunity to reflect on the first eight months of the 1993-1994 session of the Legislature as we move into the fall session ... For example, despite what individual opinion may be on the elimination of local prop- erty taxes as the primary funding mechanism for our public school sys- tem, Democrats recognize the impor- tance of the opportunity that we have to reform our schools in order to provide the best educational system for our children. Democrats began the nsh to eliminate the nronerty tax from the State House STEVE LEKROKE Class Of 1976 Democrats recognize the opportunity that we have to reform our schools in order to provide the best educational systemn for our children. gan residents want and need from their schools and designing a system that will meet those needs. Only after we know what the system will look like will we know what type of fund- ing is needed and then we can tackle orm, there was diverse opinion in our caucus as to both of these pieces of legislation. I personally believe that in both instances the victims' rights were traded for the sake of rate relief, but because we as Democrats did not believe in voting "lock step" on these issues we initiated debate and stood firm to protectMichigan citizens from a complete destruction of individual protection. In the case of auto insur- ance reform, there was wide opinion among House Democrats as to how best to insure lower rates for consum- ers, Democrats stood firm to protect the rights of citizens of this state to use the power of the ballot box to THE DAILY WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU! SEND US YOUR LETTERS: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR THE MICHIGAN DAILY 420 MAYNARD ANN ARBOR, MI 48109